Soon, no parole for ‘attempt to rape with murder’ convicts in Maharashtra

The state government proposes to implement the Maharashtra Prisons (Mumbai Furlough and Parole) (Amendment) Rules-2018, which will allow emergency parole of 14 days with no extension, as opposed to 2016 rules which gave the prisoners only 7 days

The Maharashtra government may soon stop granting regular parole and furlough to prisoners convicted on charges of 'attempt to rape with murder', as per a report by The Indian Express.

This move will help in clearing out backlog petitions in Bombay High Court. The amendment has been cleared by the government and will be gazetted shortly.

This proposal comes after Sajjad Mughal, who was convicted for the murder of a lawyer in 2012, jumped his parole in 2016, post which the government denied parole and furlough to those convicted in rape and rape with murder cases. He had been granted parole to visit his ailing mother.

A senior home department official told Indian Express that only after the Mughal episode were the rules amended, but it didn’t include the charge of attempt to rape with murder at the time. “In this proposed amendment, parole and furlough to such convicts have been denied,” the official added.

The proposal also wants to scrap Rule 4 (11) of the Maharashtra Prisons (Mumbai Furlough and Parole) (Amendment) Rules-2016, which doesn’t allow parole and furlough to those who have not been given bail or against whom the state government has appealed in court.

Many more petitions had been presented before the court regarding the 2016 amended provisions, which made the prisons department go over them once again. A committee was formed, headed by Principal Secretary (Home) SK Singh, which proposed the formation of Maharashtra Prisons (Mumbai Furlough and Parole) (Amendment) Rules-2018.

The amendment now allows an emergency parole of 14 days with no extension, as opposed to 2016 rules which gave the prisoners only 7 days. An emergency parole is granted under a police escort or a condition to report daily to the nearest police station in event of deaths or marriages of blood relatives. It is given only when the superintendent of police seeks a report from the local police of the same.

If a prisoner jumps his parole, the amendment allows the police to arrest the prisoner under Section 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension) of the IPC, and put him in remand to undergo the unexpired portion of his sentence.

The amendment has also axed the provision from 2016 rules where the prisoner has to deposit an adequate amount (at least Rs 15,000) while seeking parole. Now, the amount for the deposit will be decided by the SP of the prison.